Regional Integration through Law and International Courts – the Interplay between De Jure and De Facto Supranationality in Central America and the Caribbean

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 579-601 ◽  
Author(s):  
SALVATORE CASERTA
Keyword(s):  
Regional Integration ◽  
Central American ◽  
The European Union ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Caribbean Community ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Societal Actors ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Caribbean Court Of Justice

AbstractThe article proposes an innovative theoretical framework outlining preconditions for Regional International Courts (RICs) to act as engines of supranationality in different institutional and socio-political contexts. In so doing, the article nuances the theoretical approaches to supranationality and supranational adjudication. The article focuses on the Central American Court of Justice (CACJ) and the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). Both courts have been branded institutional copies of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU); they have even borrowed key jurisprudential principles from the Luxembourg Court with the goal of expanding the reach of Central American and Caribbean Community Laws. Yet, both the CACJ and the CCJ have thus far failed to foster supranationality in their respective systems. This is because the conditions allowing RICs to become engines of integration lie, for the most part, beyond the direct control of the judges, most notably, with other institutional, political, and societal actors, such as national judges, regional organs, legal and political elites, as well as academics. The article thus suggests that RICs can become engines of supranationality only to the extent to which they are supported by a set of institutional, political, and societal pre-conditions allowing for the concrete enforcement of the rulings of the RIC at the regional and national levels.

RESILIENCE TECHNIQUES OF INTERNATIONAL COURTS IN TIMES OF RESISTANCE TO INTERNATIONAL LAW

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Salvatore Caserta ◽  
Pola Cebulak
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
International Law ◽  
Land Rights ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
The European Union ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Indigenous Groups ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Caribbean Court Of Justice

Abstract International courts are increasingly called upon to adjudicate socially divisive disputes. They are therefore exposed to a heightened risk of backlash that questions their authority and impedes the implementation of their judgments. This article puts forward an analytical framework for mapping the resilience techniques used by international courts to counter this growing resistance. Case studies involve the Court of Justice of the European Union, which has been cautious in its stance regarding democratic backsliding in Hungary and Poland, and the Caribbean Court of Justice, which has engaged in legal diplomacy while adjudicating both on the land rights of indigenous groups and on Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) rights. It is argued that, in order to effectively avoid and mitigate backlash, international courts should deploy resilience techniques that go beyond merely exercising their judicial function. The successful deployment of resilience techniques can allow international courts to become significant actors in global governance during a time of crisis for the international liberal order.

CARICOM and its Court of Justice

2008 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 334-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek O'Brien ◽  
S. Foadi
Keyword(s):  
Regional Integration ◽  
Institutional Structure ◽  
Single Market ◽  
Caribbean Community ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Caribbean Court Of Justice

The Caribbean Court of Justice, which was inaugurated in April 2005, is possessed of both an appellate and an original jurisdiction. In its original jurisdiction the Court is vested with a compulsory and exclusive power to interpret and apply the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas which establishes the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Single Market and Economy. This paper explores the Court's original jurisdiction and the role that it could play in promoting regional integration, taking account of the region's history and the institutional structure within which it will be expected to function.

The Caribbean Court of Justice

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salvatore Caserta ◽  
Mikael Rask Madsen
Keyword(s):  
Privy Council ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
Community Law ◽  
Caribbean Community ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Sociopolitical Context ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Caribbean Court Of Justice ◽  
Criminal Matters ◽  
Court Of Appeal

This chapter analyzes the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), the creation of which was regarded as the culmination of the Caribbean’s long and protracted process toward independence from its former colonizers. Formally, the CCJ was instantaneously empowered to hear cases involving Caribbean Community law (Community law). The CCJ was also empowered to replace the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) in London—a last court of appeal for civil and criminal cases from the Caribbean and the most visible remnant of the British Empire’s former rule. The CCJ’s unique double jurisdiction—original over Community law and appellate over other civil and criminal matters—underscores the complex sociopolitical context and transformation of which it is a part. Ultimately, the CCJ’s growing authority has increasingly made the Court the institutional intersection for the convergence of these two different paths toward establishing the Caribbean as a legally integrated regional unity.

The Challenged and Challenging De Facto Authority of the Central American Court of Justice at the Intersection of Pacification, International Law, and Regionalism

2020 ◽  
pp. 178-213
Author(s):  
Salvatore Caserta
Keyword(s):  
Early Years ◽  
Central American ◽  
Territorial Disputes ◽  
National Politics ◽  
Integration System ◽  
Member States ◽  
Community Law ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Caribbean Court Of Justice

This chapter deals with the trajectory of gaining de facto authority of the Central American Court of Justice (CACJ), showing how, different from the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), this Court has thus far failed to leave a significant mark in its operational context. In its early years, the Court fared rather well, especially in terms of its capacity to build a system of community law and to address some institutional difficulties of the Central American Integration System (SICA). However, when the Court became involved with several highly political disputes (i.e. a political clash between two former Nicaraguan Presidents and some territorial disputes among its Member States) in the early 2000s, it encountered strong resistance from several actors in its context of operation. As in the analysis of the CCJ, this chapter explains the fluctuation of the CACJ’s authority by looking at the role played by various contextual factors such as the institutional conflicts between the various organs of Central American integration, the highly polarised national politics of some of the Court’s Member States, and the divergent professional interests of the Central American legal elites.

The Theory and Practice of Founding Regional Courts in Latin America and the Caribbean

2020 ◽  
pp. 96-121
Author(s):  
Salvatore Caserta
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Central American ◽  
Central Importance ◽  
Regional Economic ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Caribbean Court Of Justice

This chapter compares the foundations of the Central American Court of Justice (CACJ) and the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) with those of the Andean Tribunal of Justice (ATJ) and of the Mercosur Permanent Review Court (PRC). The goal is to provide general considerations related to the actors and factors that may be deemed of central importance for founding regional courts, and to confirm the value of the approach taken in this book. Similar to those of the CACJ and CCJ, the foundations of the ATJ and of the Mercosur PRC also extended over relatively long periods of time and were finally unlocked by the occurrence of events that were only partially and indirectly related to the two Courts. Against this background, the chapter draws general theoretical conclusions on the foundations of Regional Economic Courts (RECs) in Latin American and the Caribbean.

Show Me the Money: Enforcing Original Jurisdiction Judgments of the Caribbean Court of Justice

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
RIA MOHAMMED-DAVIDSON
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Single Market ◽  
The State ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Domestic Courts ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Caribbean Court Of Justice ◽  
New York Convention

AbstractThis article examines the challenges surrounding the enforcement of decisions of international courts, using the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as the fulcrum of the analysis. When sitting in its original jurisdiction, the CCJ adjudicates claims arising from the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and the operation of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy. However, there is no clear route for the enforcement of original jurisdiction decisions. The Agreement Establishing the CCJ leaves the issue of enforcement to the states themselves, who in turn have either failed to enact enforcement legislation or have provided for enforcement to be carried out ‘in like manner’ as the decisions of domestic courts. This phraseology raises the spectre of the Crown Proceedings Act and its legislative progeny which bar the pursuit of enforcement proceedings against the state. Several solutions to this enforcement conundrum are discussed, ranging from a regional enforcement treaty, akin to the New York Convention, to enforcement at common law using the Fick case, with the merits and demerits of each examined in turn.

The Effect of the Original Jurisdiction of the Caribbean Court of Justice on Regional Integration and National Law

2020 ◽  
pp. 528-554
Author(s):  
David S. Berry
Keyword(s):  
Regional Integration ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Appellate Court ◽  
European Union Law ◽  
Common External Tariff ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Caribbean Court Of Justice ◽  
The Relationship

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) serves as both a final appellate court and, under its original jurisdiction, as a treaty-interpreting court. Under this latter jurisdiction the CCJ has developed and enhanced the effectiveness of Caribbean Community law. It has introduced a number of legal doctrines, several of which parallel doctrines of European Union law. In doing so the Court has challenged fundamental national legal norms and traditions, including the dualist view of the relationship between international law and municipal law, the principles of constitutional supremacy and separation of powers, the role of legitimate expectations, and potential for indirect effect. This chapter introduces the CCJ’s original jurisdiction jurisprudence and places it in its legal and historical context. It identifies the different bases under which the CCJ can take jurisdiction, and critically discusses some of its foundational decisions in two areas, namely, free movement of persons and the rules related to the Common External Tariff. The chapter compares the jurisprudence of the CCJ to that of the European Court of Justice in order to assess the former’s potential effect upon Caribbean constitutional norms. The chapter concludes by suggesting that the CCJ has laid the foundations for significant legal developments which may reshape our understandings of the relationship between the regional and national spheres and the scope of authority within each sphere.

A COMMENTARY ON THE EARLY DECISIONS OF THE CARIBBEAN COURT OF JUSTICE IN ITS ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

2010 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 761-778
Author(s):  
Adrian D Saunders
Keyword(s):  
The Bahamas ◽  
Caribbean Community ◽  
Anglophone Caribbean ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
Caribbean Court Of Justice ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
British Colonies

The Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (‘the RTC’) is an attempt on the part of a group of Caribbean States to respond in a collective manner to the pressing challenges posed by the forces of globalization and liberalization. The RTC seeks, inter alia, to deepen regional economic integration through the establishment of a Caribbean Community (‘CARICOM’) including a CARICOM Single Market and Economy (‘CSME’). The States in question—Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago—are for the most part former British colonies that gained their independence in the 1960s and 1970s. The RTC signals yet another important step in the tortuous path taken by these Anglophone Caribbean States ‘to avoid the looming threat of marginalization’1 following the failure in 1962 of the West Indies Federation.2 Significantly, this latest step is being taken side by side with the non English speaking civil law States of Haiti and Suriname thereby adding a new and interesting dimension to the integration process.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document